Midnight
by Juliet Mellark
Summary: Post-Mockingjay. Katniss can't sleep. Once again, Peeta thinks it's her nightmares about the Games haunting her again, but after a cupcake attack and a talk in the couch he is gladly proven wrong.


**Hey everyone! I'm back with another little story :) This one is post-Mockingjay, pre-epilogue. Hope you enjoy! :D**

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_**Peeta's POV**_

I feel Katniss turning over every now and then. I know she's wide awake, se always is when she moves so much. I bet it's one of her nightmares again, but I doubt she would like me to interrupt her. She has been really emotional and teary over the last days, and I don't even know why. I fear her nightmares have become stronger, and I want to help her. We have been so close since I planted the primroses in her garden, I don't want everything to break down to pieces because of our past. I love her so much, and I don't want her to doubt so. Ever.

I watch her turning for another couple of minutes. Then, I slowly wrap my arms around her waist and place my chin on her arm. She suddenly stops when she feels my strong arms around her, which reassures me – at least she feels safer with me.

"Why can't you sleep?" I ask in a whisper. "Nightmares?"

Katniss doesn't answer, and I assume I am right. I kiss her cheek gently, but I am surprised to feel her cheek wet. I wipe the tears out of her face with my thumbs, and hold her tighter. "Hey, hey. Whatever happened, it was only a dream. You're safe. You're here with me, Katniss. Everything will be fine."

But Katniss keeps on crying. It's hard to find Katniss Everdeen with tears in her eyes, she's always been such a strong girl. Now it's been four years since we went into the Hunger Games, but I always picture her as the same beautiful, persistent girl I have always been in love with. I try to make her turn around carefully, but she refuses. I don't give up, until she finally does and hugs me tightly, more than usually.

"It's not a nightmare!" she yells between sobs. "It's real!"

I caress her black hair slowly while I try to calm her down, "hey, calm down. Nightmares are just bad dreams, when you wake up they're gone. They're always gone, Katniss."

Katniss keeps sobbing quietly for a few minutes, damping my pajamas t-shirt. I don't say anything and just touch her hair slowly, trying to tell her everything will be fine. But then, after a few minutes, she pushes me away from her quietly, and walks out of bed. I lift my trunk to see where she's going: she has run into the hallway. I quickly follow her through our enormous victor house. She bolts downstairs, and I try to catch up with her desperately. Now I know something worse than a nightmare is going on, and I must stop her before she does something stupid.

When I reach the kitchen, I find Katniss peering inside our refrigerator and taking out some little cupcakes I made a couple of days ago. Saying she is eating them wouldn't be fair – she's _devouring_ my little cupcakes. One by one they all end up stuffed into her mouth, until there aren't any more left. At first I look at her, completely startled, but when she grabs a second batch from the refrigerator, I walk up to her and hold her hand quietly. At first, she opens her eyes widely, but then looks to the floor without saying anything. Katniss has never liked cupcakes very much, and this is the cherry on top of the cake of the personality change she has suffered lately.

"Katniss," I call her hoarsely. "I need you to tell me what's wrong. And I need you to tell me right now."

I hadn't intended it to sound strict, but I apparently did, because Katniss breaks down into sobs again as soon as I finish my last sentence. I try to calm her down uselessly, but then I finally manage to make her let go of the cupcake trail and to sit her down in the living room's couch. She curls up into a ball and cries harder than before, holding onto my shirt tightly. After a few minutes, she looks up at me, her eyes red with crying and her cheeks full with tears.

"I'm sorry, Peeta," she sobs. "I know this is not the way you wanted it."

I frown, not understanding what Katniss means. I wipe the tears off her face with my thumb and kiss her forehead silently.

"I don't understand," I finally whisper. "What do you mean, it's not the way I wanted it?"

"Your life," she answers hoarsely, looking straight into my eyes. Guilt is filling her brown orbs. "You wanted a nice wife to settle down with, have plenty of children and start your own bakery...and see what you've got. See what we've been through. I ruined your life, Peeta."

Her words hit me like a ton of brick. Ruin my life? Her? How could she say that? I wouldn't have taken any other girl in the world or the most perfect family if that meant losing her. I hug her tightly and whisper, "Katniss, you have not ruined my life. You have made me feel the happiest man alive, even back then in the Arena, when I thought everything was lost. I would never change you for anything. Ever."

Katniss looks straight into my eyes. I know there is still something she hasn't told me, I feel it in the nervous gleam of her eyes. However, I lean down and give her a long, loving kiss which will make her feel a lot better. Indeed, when we break apart after a few seconds, she even gives me a half smile.

"I love you, you know that right?" she finally whispers.

It's not easy to hear Katniss Everdeen saying 'I love you', but when she does you immediately know she's being honest. I wrap my arms around her and grin. I still feel like she's hiding something from me, but I say nothing.

"I love you more than anything," I whisper. I rest my cheek on her soft black hair, and add, "Katniss, please. Was that all that made you so upset?"

She lifts her head up again and looks at me with tears in her eyes again. At first she doesn't move, but then she holds my hand and plays with my fingers for a few seconds. And then, she places my hand over her womb. My eyes open wide. No, it can't be true. I feel a slight curve in Katniss's lower tummy, a curve that will become bigger and bigger over the next months. And that's when it hits me.

I'm going to be a father.

I stare at Katniss, hardly believing what my wife is hinting. My first reaction is an enormous grin. A father, I am finally going to be a father! But then I see Katniss isn't smiling, and I remember how she has never wanted to have kids. I give her a small smile and kiss her forehead.

"Everything will be fine," I say. "Our child will grow up with his loving parents and he will not need to suffer."

Katniss shakes her head. "I fear for our baby, Peeta," she whispers. "I don't want him to find himself all alone in the world. What if something happens to us? He won't have anyone."

I kind of get Katniss's point. What if our child finds himself all alone? Let's say something happens to us. Who will take care of him? Haymitch? Katniss's mother? Gale? I would hate my child to grow up without knowing his parents, without knowing everything we did to stay together. But when I touch Katniss's womb with the tip of my fingers, all the worries are gone. I grin and repeat it to myself: I am going to be a father. Then, I look into Katniss's deep brown eyes and I kiss her deeply, with all the passion I can throw into a kiss. At first, she's surprised by my outburst of emotions, but soon our lips move in perfect synchrony. When we break apart, I wrap my arms around her and grin once again.

"I promise you, nothing will happen to us," I whisper. "We will be great parents and our child will love us for being so amazing. He will grow up as a happy child and he won't live fearing the reapings, or the Hunger Games. Our child will be born free and happy, Katniss. Isn't that what we wanted?"

Katniss nods, and for the first time she smiles. She wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tightly. "I love you, Peeta. More than anything."

I kiss her forehead, smiling. Now I know everything will be okay. Katniss, our child – a brilliant future lays ahead of us. I sit Katniss on my lap, and we spend the night talking about completely random things – how will we name our baby, her sudden love for cupcakes, and how she can't stand tangerines any more...we laugh, we kiss, and for the first time in months, I see Katniss is truly happy, like in our wedding day. I know my wedding day and today will be the most important days of my life, along with a day not so far away in which my child will come to the world. The first of at least a couple of them, I hope.

As dawn breaks in, Katniss falls asleep in my arms and I decide to carry her back to our bed. As I tuck her in carefully, I kiss her forehead gently and grin once again. A father, I am going to be a father. My thoughts jump from our child to Katniss, from Katniss to our child. I walk downstairs and start getting everything set up for a very important meal.

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As Katniss walks downstairs, I give the final touches to the delicacy I have been preparing over the last hours. Some icing sugar here and...done!

I turn around, hiding the meal from her. She tries to catch a glimpse of what I've been preparing, but I always hide it perfectly.

"What have you cooked?" she pouts, looking at me with her shiny brown eyes. I wouldn't deny anything to those beautiful, shiny brown eyes. Never.

"Just a little breakfast for you and me," I answer, taking out the breakfast trail with a grin on my face. "But try not to take too many of them. It won't be good for the baby."

Katniss grins as she holds a little example of my delicious pastry in her hands. She eats it quickly and takes the trail from my hands, but instead of devouring them as I expected her to do, she throws her arms around me and laughs joyfully. I love it when she's happy, and I love it when she laughs like this.

"I love you, Peeta," she whispers before kissing me again.

Her kisses will always taste like cupcakes for the rest of my life.

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**So I guess that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed, please R&R!**

**Juliet :)**


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